Stinky Dink - One Track Mind

This song reminds me of my first year living in the DC area (Arlington, VA to be exact). It was the bomb song back in the day. Ahh, to be 20 and single again.

Untouchables - Teamwork Scene

Probably the greatest motivational speech captured on film...

Debunking 2012 at a Glance

Quick article that debunks belief in the 2012 apocalypse in graphic form. Neat...

Batman Icon Mutation

Ground Zero II

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a nuclear bomb goes off in your city? With Google's Maps framework and a bit of Javascript, you can see the outcome. And it doesn't look good...

Choose from a Russian Tactical Suitcase Bomb (1 Kiloton) all the way up to the Tsar Bomba (50 Megatons), the largest man-made explosion so far, and even beyone to the Chicxulub Asteroid Impact which is thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Raw Footage of Hudson River Miracle

The US Coast Guard has just released this raw footage of US Airways Flight 1549 crash landing into the Hudson River. The Airbus A320 had 155 passengers on board. My hats off to both the Pilot for his coolness under pressure and the Ferry Boat Captains who rushed to the scene in as little as three minutes.

50s Pinup Model Bettie Page Dead at 85

It is indeed a sad day... Legendary pinup queen Bettie Page died of pneumonia at the age of 85 in a Los Angeles, California, hospital Thursday, a week after suffering a heart attack, according to her agent. "She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," said agent Mark Roesler in a written statement. "She is the embodiment of beauty." Page, said to be one of the most photographed people of the past century, became a recluse in recent decades. Yet, her images continued to be used around the world to market Bettie Page action figures, clothing lines and other merchandise. The Web site, BettiePage.com, logs about 20 million hits a month, Roesler said. A TVGuide.com poll recently placed Bettie Page as the "ultimate sex goddess," outscoring others such as Marilyn Monroe.

The Ten Oldest Bars in the US

I am proud to say that I got plastered (many times over when I worked for the US Treasury Dept) at the Old Ebbit Grill, number 4 on the list of the Ten Oldest Bars in the US.

Was the Death Star Attack and Inside Job?

We’ve all heard the “official conspiracy theory” of the Death Star attack. We all know about Luke Skywalker and his ragtag bunch of rebels, how they mounted a foolhardy attack on the most powerful, well-defended battle station ever built. And we’ve all seen the video over, and over, and over, of the one-in-a-million shot that resulted in a massive chain reaction that not just damaged, but completely obliterated that massive technological wonder. Like many, I was fed this story when I was growing up. But as I watched the video, I began to realize that all was not as it seemed. And the more I questioned the official story, the deeper into the rabbit hole I went.

Note: This post is not to make light or fun of the 9/11 attacks on the recent 7th anniversary, but to make a serious point about the absurdity of 9/11 Conspiracy theories in a humorus way.

Today in History: The Swiss Army Gets Its Own Knife

June 12, 1897: Karl Elsener legally registers his "soldiers' knife" for use by the Swiss army. In an age when nationalism was fashionable, Elsener, a Swiss manufacturer of surgical instruments and cutlery, was a very fashionable man indeed. So he was less than thrilled to learn that the Swiss army was importing Solingen blades from neighboring Germany. Elsener set out to develop a homegrown multifunctional tool worthy of being carried by his local Alpine troops. His prototype of what became known as the Swiss army knife appeared in 1891. The original -- made with a wooden handle -- included a blade, a screwdriver and a can opener. But Elsener was not happy with it and tinkered endlessly, adding a second blade using a revolutionary spring mechanism, and strengthening the housing.

The Mafia's Ten Commandments

The Mafia's Ten Commandments have been found after police arrested a top Godfather in Sicily. Under the secret Cosa Nostra code of conduct, the so-called "men of honour" must avoid bars, other gangsters' wives and girlfriends and be on time. The list of rules emerged from documents seized after the arrest of Salvatore Lo Piccolo, 65, at a secret mob meeting in Palermo, along with his son Sandro, 32, and two other godfathers.

The 10 'Mafiosi' commandments are:

1. No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always be available for Cosa Nostra, even if your wife's about to give birth.
6. Appointments must be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra are anyone with a close relative in the police, with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

Fidel Castro and Stroh's Light

This is the kind of hard nose negotiations we need to bring about democracy in Cuba.

Survive a Nuclear Blast

When I was a kid one of my greatest fears was a getting caught in a Nuclear Explosion. My home town (San Antonio, TX) is home to important Army and Air Force bases making it a top ten nuclear target. As a child many times I would have wake up with nightmares of witnessing a mushroom cloud and standing in awe as I wait for my death when the explosion blast hits me like a freight train. As an adult I still have these nightmares about once a year.

So it may seem like a fear rooted in Cold War paranoia, but with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sniffing around the Middle East, North Korea and other parts of the world for hidden enrichment facilities and smuggled radioactive materials, the threat of an atomic bomb hitting a major city is a harsh reality.

If your city is the target of a nuclear attack, you'll need to do more than duck and cover. Between the sheer destructive force of the blast and the horrors of fallout, the odds of survival can be depressingly slim. Here's a short list of tips to beat the odds of this oft-feared doomsday scenario. If you want some serious information, here is the free online version of "Nuclear War Survival Skills".

Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden

The world's oldest known living tree, a conifer that first took root at the end of the last Ice Age, has been discovered in Sweden, researchers say. The visible portion of the 13-foot-tall (4-meter-tall) "Christmas tree" isn't ancient, but its root system has been growing for 9,550 years, according to a team led by Leif Kullman, professor at Umeå University's department of ecology and environmental science in Sweden.

Atomic Cafe (1982)

The World's Most Important 6-sec Drum Loop

This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute video narrates the history of the "Amen Break," a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music -- a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures. Nate Harrison's 2004 video is a meditation on the ownership of culture, the nature of art and creativity, and the history of a remarkable music clip.

Patriots' Season Perfect for Rest of Nation

Patriots' Season Perfect For Rest Of Nation

Top 10 Most Expensive Libations

How about a bottle of $54,000 Rum from 1940? A list of the top ten most expensive libations.

FBI Reopens 1971 D.B. Cooper Case

On a cold November night 36 years ago, in the driving wind and rain, somewhere between southern Washington state and just north of Portland, Oregon, a man calling himself Dan Cooper parachuted out of a plane he’d just hijacked clutching a bag filled with $200,000 in stolen cash. Who was Cooper? Did he survive the jump? And what happened to the loot, only a small part of which has ever surfaced? The FBI is reopening the case in hopes it will jog someone's memory.

Drinking Stories That Put Yours to Shame

History is full of drinking stories that are hard to swallow. See if any of your stories can match these...